As our society moves further away from paper currency, we pause to look back at the once predominant form of payment. Its look, its feel and its smell all hold a place in the collective consciousness of our nation's history.

It's almost year since a financial oversight board was set up to resolve the debt crisis on the island of Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rican government owes about $9 billion, and as the anniversary approaches, it looks likely that changes could be made to the way that debt is restructured.

The smallest faction in the divided State Senate, the Independent Democratic Conference, has been permitted by the ruling party Republicans to issue its own alternate spending plan. That has angered the rest of the Democrats.

Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Rob Klee says the state will continue to receive EPA grant money for its two largest projects. The announcement comes after President Donald Trump’s administration ordered the EPA to freeze its grant spending last week.

When you buy a container of soda, water, or beer, you pay five cents -- and if you return the bottle or can to be recycled, you get that money back. In Connecticut, the program is called “the bottle bill,” and it’s been around since 1980. But now, some are worried the whole system is on the verge of falling apart.

Connecticut officials are now projecting that the state will end this fiscal year with a $23 million surplus, as stated in a letter sent by Governor Dannel Malloy’s budget director to the state comptroller on Friday.